Ceret - Place de la Republique

Mum and Dad took Joan to the airport this morning and I did laundry. A stay at home, got up to early, domestic stuff to get done, kind of day. So I will give you a tour of Place de la Republique.

The double signage isn't unusual in Ceret. Many of the old streets have Catalan names and
French names. This square was renamed in 1920 according to signage in the square.

The same signage indicates that the square was first mentioned in the mid 16 hundreds as a place where the village held fairs, just outside the walls.

The most impressive edifice is the Porte du France, one of the main entrances into the walled part of town.
The right hand side is in good shape as it is part of the library. The road up into town is cobblestone and
narrow but vehicles do drive down it. That's our morning walk to get croissant.

To the right of the arch is the town library which we face, across the square.

The library was a Maison du Maitre according to the sign. When I looked this up it said "mansion"
which is quite believable with the stone balustrades, impressive door and ornate carving around
the windows.

Each floor of windows has different ornamentation with the most complex
at the bottom.

Even the arrow slits in the curved side of the archway have been "fancied up".
This one is very popular with the pigeons.

One of the unadorned arrow slits.

Over the big front door, which is not used as the libraries front door.

The library doors are just through the arch.

The back (facing the huge parking lot out the other end of the square) belies the modern
interior. The rooms of the old mansion are intact and used to hold the book shelves but the
seating and research areas are large, well lit and modern.

Next to the library is a real estate agent (window on the left of this photo)
and then the road out into the huge parking lot. There is nowhere to park (or really drive) in the
old town so everyone who lives there needs parking. Ceret has surrounded its central commercial
 and tourist area with large parking areas.

Next going around the square is a road down into a little valley and stream and a couple of houses. Then there is us.

7 Bis Place de la Republique. Our door is at the left of this photo, green on a brilliant yellow
building. The door in the centre of the photo we think was the original door for the whole
building which has since been divided in two. the ornamentation on the windows and balconies
is identical. That door has the number 7 on it.

This is above the door, no initials but some attempt at fancy.
 

Above the first floor windows. Like the library across the square, the ornamentation and
wrought iron on the balconies decreases in complexity as you get higher

Next along our side of the square is the Viennoisserie (which unfortunately doesn't
always have croissant and baguette so we don't tend to shop there) and a laundry.

At the opposite end from the parking lot is the road into town with café Le
France just beyond the trees on the right. Far right of this photo is the edge of the arch.